Editorial: Wanted -- A Marin Assembly candidate who will clean up the mud

THE RACE for Marin's seat in the Assembly is a prime reason why voters often give such low marks to their lawmakers.

Candidates Michael Allen and Marc Levine and their supporters are waging a vicious volley — a mudfest that's not enhancing their reputations.

Most of their mailers are making their foe sound like a political scoundrel ready to sell his soul to his contributors.

We would hope that most voters just toss them, giving them little attention. The authors, however, are spending big bucks in the hopes the fleeting attention they get from most voters leaves a negative impression that sticks.

Campaign handlers are counting on voters not doing their homework. They are counting on voters deciding who to vote for, or against, based on what they remember from one of their mailers designed to make their candidate look like a saint and the opponent like the worst scalawag.

Campaigns flood mailboxes with negative ads because they work. They stretch facts because voters don't doublecheck.

Mud-slinging has always been part of American politics, but today there's so much mud flying around that it's harder to see the truth.

That's the intent.

That's why voters are cynical about the process and politicians. After a flood of negative attacks, even a saint winds up splattered with mud.

The intensity of mud-slinging has worsened with the growth of independent expenditure committees, special-interest campaigns or individuals operating independently from a candidate and his or her organization.

They are mud machines. They trash the candidates they don't like, throwing dirt while their candidates are able to keep their hands clean.

Sadly, the candidates who stand to benefit let it happen. Rather than blasting or condemning the tactics, they stand by silently. They essentially become silent partners in the attack ads and hit pieces.

In recent campaigns, we've heard candidates say they don't want to hinder freedom of speech. One politician said she prefers "to fight her own battles," hardly a convincing condemnation.

Last year, San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips bucked the trend when he publicly refuted a mailer sent out by the city's police union. The union blasted Councilman Greg Brockbank, Phillips' opponent in the mayoral race, for not caring about public safety. Phillips stood up for Brockbank.

It's unfortunate that neither Allen nor Levine have stepped forward and publicly condemned such tactics, particularly those of their supporters.

On Nov. 6 voters are going to choose between the two mud-covered candidates. It's the kind of race that discourages qualified people from running and feeds voter cynicism.

But as long as the prevailing political strategy is that the path to victory has to be paved with mud, nothing will change.

Until someone — a candidate with true political courage and leadership — stands up and condemns such tactics, especially by his so-called supporters.